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Enzo Maresca has admitted Chelsea will suffer this season after their last lengthy campaign including the Club World Cup, revealing how Moises Caicedo was only able to train for the first time on Friday before Saturday's visit of Fulham.
Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill are confirmed as sidelined for their lunchtime clash and with a new question mark surrounding Caicedo, Maresca claims it is no coincidence that the three players who played more than everyone else in 2024-25 are now struggling in 2025-26.
‘I don't think that it is random,’ Maresca told reporters at Chelsea's training ground. ‘Our three players with the most minutes last year were Levi, Cole and Moi.
‘Levi is injured (with an ACL injury), Cole too (with a groin problem), and Moi today only had his first training session since the West Ham game. That is where things are this season.
‘It is not random – it is the amount of games. Look at (Manchester) City last year, they lost Rodri after two or three games. He was a player that had the most minutes for them.
‘We are going to have problems this season for sure because of last season. But it's about how we can adapt and get players to recover.’
Enzo Maresca admitted Chelsea will suffer this season after their lengthy 2024-25 campaign
Moises Caicedo was only able to train for the first time on Friday before Saturday's visit of Fulham
Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill are confirmed as sidelined for Chelsea's game against Fulham
Chelsea had an eventful 2024-25 season that ended in them winning the Club World Cup
Maresca believes Alejandro Garnacho will help Chelsea's creativity if he joins the club
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In the Premier League last season, Caicedo played 3,356 minutes followed by Palmer on 3,195 and Colwill on 3,149. That ranked them in the top 20 for players from all clubs in 2024-25.
Palmer may be available after the international break with him having been left out of Thomas Tuchel's England squad for their World Cup qualifiers with Andorra and Serbia.
Meanwhile, Maresca spoke of what Alejandro Garnacho will bring to Chelsea after they agreed a £40million fee with Manchester United. ‘Garnacho I think is a good winger, good at one-v-ones, and he can create things, this is the way I see it,’ he said.
‘When we are looking for a winger, we like wingers who are good in one-v-one, they are quite vertical, aggressive, they can attack, they can create something,’ he said. ‘Jamie (Gittens) is that profile. If Garnacho arrives, we will see.’
